By Joe Wicke
Capital News Service
ANNAPOLIS — Maryland’s top Democrats ramped up an effort to urge voters to support an amendment to redraw congressional districts less than two weeks from Election Day, though a poll shows the ballot question is unpopular among both parties.
The proposed amendment, known as Question 3, asks voters whether they support an amendment to the Maryland Constitution on congressional redistricting. Maryland has eight congressional districts, seven of which are majority Democrat and one majority Republican.
The amendment, if passed, would not affect the 2026 midterm, but it would open the door for a redrawn map that could flip Maryland’s sole Republican House seat.
In a campaign ad released by Gov. Wes Moore Wednesday, the Democratic candidate said voting in favor of the amendment will help suppress President Donald Trump’s “illegal power grab.”
U.S. Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks, U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer and Maryland House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk also appeared in the 30-second ad. The Democrats criticized the Trump administration’s attempts to redraw congressional lines, and said the ballot question is a chance to “fight back.”
Last summer, Trump pushed for Texas to redraw its congressional map to favor Republicans. Several other states also pushed to redraw congressional lines ahead of the 2026 midterms.
“Voting YES on Question 3 is Maryland’s best opportunity to push back against Trump’s attempt to rig more MAGA seats in Congress,’’ Carter Elliott, senior communications adviser for Moore, said in a press release Wednesday. ‘’And, Maryland can’t afford to miss this chance.”
But some critics said Democrats will use Maryland’s redistricting question to target the Eastern Shore. Rep. Andy Harris, the lone Republican in the congressional delegation, represents the Eastern Shore.
In August, the Maryland Republican party launched the “Save Our Voice” campaign, which aimed to mobilize volunteers to push voters to check “no” on Question 3.
“We will continue our grassroots campaign to defeat Question 3, stop this partisan power grab, and prevent extreme partisan gerrymandering in Maryland,” Nicole Beus Harris, chairwoman of the Maryland Republican Party, said in a statement Thursday to Capital News Service.
Beus Harris said the ad is “full of half-truths and misleading rhetoric.” She said despite the focus on fighting against Trump, the ballot question won’t go into effect until 2028 when the president will be leaving office.
A recent poll by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County found only 25% of respondents, both Democrat and Republican, said they will vote in favor of Question 3.
Matthew Crenson, a professor emeritus of political science at Johns Hopkins University, said the ballot question’s unpopularity may stem from voters opposing Trump-era political practices.
“It also looks as though the political norms followed by President Trump, who initiated this round of redistricting and reapportionment, it looks like converting his practices into permanent norms of our political culture, and people may be resisting that,” Crenson said.
A recent ad campaign by the newly-formed political action committee Truth for Maryland encouraged voters to vote for Moore, but vote “no” on Question 3. Moore pushed back on the campaign, saying in a video on X Wednesday that the PAC is trying to trick voters into believing he opposes the ballot question.
Question 3 also faced several legal roadblocks on its way to the ballot. Higher- and lower-court judges agreed Question 3’s original wording was complex and misleading, but the Maryland Supreme Court allowed a revised version to make it onto the ballot.
Moore told CNS last month he was sure voters would “overwhelmingly” support Question 3.
“The people are excited they have the power again,” Moore told reporters at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s legislative conference in Washington, D.C.
Jake Tiger contributed to this report.
